1 INTRODUCTION There are many salvations that are mentioned in The Scriptures but the ultimate salvation is the salvation of the soul awaiting to be realized at the end of The Messianic Reign of Christ on the earth. The salvation of the soul occurs apart from and is different than the salvation of the spirit. The soul is not saved at the moment of belief into Christ, but it begins to be realized at The Judgment Seat of Christ that the end of our faith is the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth. There is a contrast in a Christian’s life that it was by faith he believed (past tense) and now he must continually believe (present tense) unto the saving of the soul (James 1:21-22). At the moment I believed my body was saved (Ephesians 2:8-9), in The Day of The Lord my spirit will be saved (1Corinthians 5:5), and at the end of my faith (servants still work until The Master stops working from His reign as King over all the earth) is where my soul is saved (1Peter 1:9). At this point you realize this is not traditional theology, but let each man diligently search the Word of God (2Timothy 2:15) for the basis of all truth. Can you really on your own verify within The Word of God the things you hold to be true? Or are they simply comfortable traditions we have grown to accept as true without question? Understanding the salvation of the soul is the key to unlocking the great truths of The Parables, The Judgment Seat of Christ, and The Millennial Kingdom. It is unfortunate that The Reformation did not recover this along with the doctrine of election. Martin Luther was used by God to reestablish justification by faith alone (passive faith, 2 no works/repentance in view, simply believe that Jesus Christ is The Savior, your Paschal Lamb). However, Martin Luther did not see the salvation of the soul and as a result he wanted the book of James discarded from The Canon of Scripture as sifted straw. “The Reformers feared free grace and, as a result, did not take The Reformation far enough. That is, their doctrine of the perseverance of the saints in holiness compromised the free grace of God.”1 God has shown us throughout history that he has raised up men for his purposes so we would be drawn back to the truths in His Word. Let us not forget to go beyond church history and search The Scriptures for our doctrine. THE TRICHOTOMY OF MAN The salvation of the soul is not difficult to understand, however it is difficult to embrace without humbly seeing the need to adjust our theology. Some people have the problem of cognitive dissidence. They are so indoctrinated that they have become, without realizing it, creatures of habit. They immediately discount any truth in The Scriptures that is different from what they believe. The Scriptures speak plainly of God being a trinity without one scripture standing alone for us to know this truth. We know this to be true by gleaning from a collection of many Scriptures that enrich and build upon our understanding of our awesome Triune God (Deuteronomy 6:4 & Psalm 110:1) The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. It is by comparing Scripture with Scripture that we come to know The Truth. Why is it then when we read a passage that 1 Joseph C. Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings (Hayesville, North Carolina: Schoettle Publishing Co., 1993) 13. 3 states plainly that we have a spirit, soul, and body (1Thessolonians 5:23 & Hebrews 4:12) we reject this truth. Is not our Triune God our Creator in whom we are made in His image and in His likeness as a triune being (Genesis 1:26)? There are those who would contend that the soul and spirit are used in Scripture interchangeably to emphasize an attribute of our character within a particular passage of Scripture. This dichotomy view of man has merit in principle, but does not explain why they are used together in the same verse. The life/soul is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11-14). The words psuche (Greek) and nephesh (Hebrew) can be and are translated either life or soul throughout The Scriptures (Luke 14:26). Is my life my spirit? Is my spirit in the blood? Our spirit is the highest expression of who we are in our triune makeup. Man’s spirit was made to commune with God and effect a high calling on his life. When man fell in the garden, his spirit fell from innocence and communion with The Lord God. God restored man’s spirit by His Sovereign Grace through faith by The Blood of Jesus. It is from our spirit that The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth in The Word of God (Romans 8:16). Our spirit is the conduit through which God communicates His Word to transform our lives/souls for His desires and plans. The Word of God is the remedy that will give life and wisdom to the believer. It is through our spirit that The Holy Spirit administers The Word to our soul/life (1Corinthians 2:11-16). Do true worshippers worship God in life/soul and truth? No, God demands our best. It is only from our highest expression of who we are that we must worship Him (John 4:24). We must worship God in spirit and in truth. Our spirit (controlled by The Holy Spirit) and our soul (controlled by our fleshly desires) war with each other for the control of the body (Romans 7:18-25). The believer’s body is the 4 vehicle through which he shows evidence (works) of being spiritual or soulical (1Corinthians 3:1-3 & John 14:21). EXAMINING MAN’S TRICHOTOMY Man is a triune being having a spirit, soul, and body. What then happened when we became born into The House of God (1Peter 4:17-18)? Was all of us (spirit, soul, and body) at that point saved? God’s by His will not man’s will gave us the awesome gift by His Grace and Faith for us to believe Jesus is The Savior. When we believed we were placed in God’s eyes as always covered by The Blood of the finished work of Jesus. A person to become a child of God must have God’s Spirit breathed into him (John 1:12- 13, Genesis 2:7). God made alive my dead spirit (Ephesians 2:1) to effect a change in my soul/life. God tells us that on the cross we were counted as dead through Christ’s death (Romans 7:4). God saw us in Christ when He paid our sin debt. This is a past act existing in a present state that becomes realized the moment we believe (Romans 6:6-8). No works can be added to receive or prove Christ’s finished work on Calvary. One simply either has faith (believes God’s Word) or he doesn’t. Unsaved man’s faith like his will is relative, he has neither in spiritual matters. God is Sovereign and does as He pleases disregarding the fairness of depraved man (Daniel 4:35). Unsaved man can for example by his own will choose his airline and place his faith in the pilot of the airline. But, in the spiritual realm, it is only after God regenerates us that we have the freedom to choose God (Romans 3:11), just as we only have the faith to believe into Christ after The 5 Son of God gives His faith to us (Galatians 2:20). Therefore unsaved man is not in view at all in the book of James, but rather a child of God. It is only a child of God who can choose not to continually believe (an unbelieving believer) that results in an unproductive life/soul of dead faith. Did not Jesus speak of His people having a choice, but they would not (were not willing to) receive Him as their king? (Matthew. 23:37-39). God through The Holy Spirit dwells in us spiritually as His temple through our spirit. It is in our spirit we were justified by faith apart from works and sanctified (set apart) for His good works that we should walk in them. We walk in them as The Spirit of Christ directs our souls/lives to do God’s Will. Our triune makeup is a pattern of The Tabernacle. We have only one way to come into the presence of a Holy God. We must have a sacrifice, which is Christ, who is our atonement. He imparts unto us salvation from eternal separation from God (passive faith). Now we must cleanse ourselves of our evil deeds (washing feet and hands) before we can begin to commune or abide with a Holy God. He cleanses us by the washing of The Word to effect our soul/life salvation in the active faith arena (James 1:21, 4:8). We must come through God’s propitiation of Christ for our initial salvation and then continually come to our propitiator (our Highpriest) for cleansing unto the salvation of our lives/souls. It is by grace through faith that we have our initial salvation. Because of what Christ did alone we have been saved by that passive faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). A believer must now begin to no longer live for himself (2Corinthians 5:14-15, Matthew 16:24- 27).